


By Another Name

by FujurPreux



Category: Dresden Files - Jim Butcher, Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-29 00:24:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/313801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FujurPreux/pseuds/FujurPreux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Names are more important than Sarah had ever imagined. During Dead Beat the Erlking goes off to hunt his own prey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By Another Name

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [springkink challenge](http://community.livejournal.com/springkink/) @ LJ

The longest of times had past since she'd last seen him. The city had been a total chaos for the last couple of days, not exactly the best moment for him to show up. Nevertheless, there he was, on what was left of her front lawn. Yet, since he'd set foot there, the noise and the disturbances had calmed down considerably.

He hadn't gotten any older at all in those years. Then again, he wasn't human. He was a king in a land where magic manifested itself in ways that would scare most grown people she knew.

She had refused to tell anyone about that little adventure in his realm to avoid adults convincing her that it'd been all just a dream, that it hadn't happened. Thus, she kept in her memory every detail of the journey, of her friends. Of him.

And he was there now. In her garden, just barely avoiding to step on her daisies.

Defying all common sense, she went to face him.

"Sarah," he said, bowing his head as soon as he saw her. As she got closer, she noticed that he wasn't exactly as she remembered him. His demeanor was colder, more distant. He looked much more frightening than when he'd stolen her baby brother when she was fifteen years old.

"Jareth," she said trying to remain at ease. "What brings you here? You still don't have any power over me."

He bowed again. "I'm aware of that, Sarah. It was someone else who summoned me to this plane tonight. But I was set loose to do as I bid with my Hunt, so I followed my instincts. I didn't know I would find you, but I'm glad."

She looked at the fires on the other side of the street and tried not to wince at the screams--human and inhuman--that populated the night. "Are you the cause of all of this, Jareth?"

"Yes and no. Not of everything and not directly. And before you say it, I can't stop it, not even if you ask me, Sarah. Specially not if you keep using that name." He tilted his head. "It surprises you, doesn't it? That I am capable of such actions."

She decided to ignore that last part, even if it was true. "What do you mean, if I keep using that name?"

"I have many names. The one you know appeals to my most playful side. The one that was used to call me this once appeals to what you'd call the most ruthless side of my nature."

"If I knew that other name, could I ask you to stop?"

"You'd have to face me again for the right over that other aspect of me, and you wouldn't stand a chance." He made a pause "It's a challenge I couldn't bear to give, not to you," he added after a pause.

She took a moment to let Jareth's words sink. She looked at him in the eye and noticed that below all that coldness there was a little sadness. She breathed deeply. "Even if I can't, someone has to do something."

"Oh, something is being done by someone who knows the game and is more prepared to play it than you are."

Right at that moment, a giant creature passed down the street running, roaring. Sarah fell down on the grass. As the thing moved away, she recognized the form as one that she'd seen in several movies and tv shows. "A tyrannosaurus?" she mumbled.

Jareth looked at the creature. "Magnificent."

"What do you mean 'magnificent'? That thing is going to destroy the city!"

"I mean it's magnificent. And it won't. It has a different purpose," he said, pointing at the two human figures that were seemingly riding the dinosaur. "See?"

"I-I'm not sure..." she said starting to get up.

Dogs--huge dogs--began barking and howling like if their life depended of it, and the sound of horns reached them.

"My Hunt calls me. I should go to them. Go inside, Sarah. Nothing will harm you nor anyone else in that house, you have my word."

She opened her mouth to protest, to ask about what would happen to everyone else in the city, but she stopped herself. It was a terrible matter, and it made her feel like a terrible person, but beggars can't be choosers and this wasn't the same Jareth she'd met so long ago. And, at the same time, he was.

Before closing the door, Sarah looked back again to see the Goblin King one last time before he lost himself in the darkness.

She also wondered if it would actually be the last time, or if there could be a next, one where he could be her Jareth instead.

But beggars can't be choosers, she thought, and she closed her door.


End file.
